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3D Printing News Briefs: December 26, 2019

For your holiday edition of 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ll get business out of the way first – Wipro 3D has launched Addwize, a new Additive Technology Adoption and Acceleration Program. Moving on, Prusa interviewed animatronic model senior designer Joshua Lee about their shared interest in 3D printing. Finally, Voodoo Manufacturing helped an artist bring her 2D artistic vision to full-sized 3D life.

Wipro 3D Introduces Addwize Program

Scale vendors: Foundation – blue; Advanced – green; Practitioner – orange

Additive manufacturing solutions provider Wipro 3D, a business of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, has launched a new Additive Technology Adoption and Acceleration Program called Addwize, which will address all the phases in the AM adoption cycle within academia and industry. The multi-platform, OEM-agnostic adoption program will help interested organizations and institutions fully understand 3D printing, evaluate business cases for the technology, and then scientifically use it to create value. It’s designed to help stakeholders of all levels, and academia, adopt and scale their usage of AM for business benefits.

“Wipro 3D addwize is designed and developed to support any organization or institution who is either evaluating metal Additive technology, has AM in their near future technology roadmap or has already invsted in AM, create business value using metal AM,” said Ajay Parikh, Vice President and Business Head, Wipro 3D.

“There is no lower or upper limit to the size of the organization who wants to evaluate AM.”

Prusa Interviews Animatronic Model Designer Joshua Lee

Not too long ago, the Research Content Team at Prusa met award-winning animatronic model senior designer Joshua Lee in Prague, who has over 25 years of experience in the film industry working on such movies as Prometheus, The Fifth Element, and even the Star Wars and Harry Potter series. The team took advantage of the opportunity to speak with Lee about a topic near and dear to all their hearts – 3D printing, which he uses often in his work.

“We use a lot of different techniques of 3D printing in the filming industry,” Lee told Prusa. “We only really adopted it in the last 5 years. I am really using it a lot now.

“The thing I like the most is how 3D printers help when you have really tight deadlines. The film director has a new idea and you just wish there were more hours in a day. We used to do a lot of “all-nighters” to get things made. If you’ve got your own 3D printer, you can design something quickly, press print and you can go home to bed – that’s the best thing! In the morning, you are up and running again and this amazing print awaits you there. I still get a small thrill, every time I come in and see this thing that has magically appeared there overnight.”

To hear more of what Lee had to say about the materials he uses (PLA and PETG), his preferred desktop printer (Original Prusa MK3), and specific Star Wars-related projects he used 3D printing for, check out the rest of the interview in the video below:

Voodoo Manufacturing Assists with 3D Printed Art Installation

Back in 1976, artist Agnes Denes created a 2D art piece called Probability Pyramid – Study for Crystal Pyramid, and has long since dreamed of turning into a life-size installation. In early 2019, her dream seemed like it would become reality when NYC-based art space The Shed began working with her on the project. The team didn’t have much luck with acrylic, glass, or mold injection, and so turned to Brooklyn’s Voodoo Manufacturing for assistance. There were a lot of requirements for the project – the Pyramid required several groups of bricks in unique sizes and shapes, totaling 5,442 translucent bricks that could be stacked to easily transport and form the pyramid; Voodoo 3D printed bricks that were 99% hollow, so they were less breakable and very lightweight.

“A lot of traditional manufacturing happens abroad. Because Voodoo’s factory is in Brooklyn, the team at The Shed would have an easier time accessing the parts as the sculpture was built. By the same token, as part of her commitment to environmental responsibility, it was very important for Agnes Denes to keep the production local,” Voodoo explained.

“The use of 3D printing was much more in line with her vision than traditional sculpture construction methods. This also allowed us to test multiple versions of the Pyramid digitally instead of having to build many physical versions.”

Thanks to Voodoo’s digital factory, the exhibition Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates opened on time. The retrospective, which features the 3D printed installation, will be displayed at The Shed until March 22, 2020.

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Royal DSM Will Choose Ten Startups to Participate in the I AM Tomorrow Challenge

Royal DSM, headquartered in The Netherlands, is a global company based on science and sustainable living—with serious dedication to 3D printing also, as they realize the incredible potential such technology offers so many industries around the world. Now, they are offering an acceleration program in large-scale 3D printing and additive manufacturing for startups and scaleups, with a focus on data analytics, artificial intelligence, and related software. The teams will also participate master classes, be exposed to ‘exclusive’ networking opportunities, and receive expert coaching sessions.

The I AM Tomorrow Challenge, in collaboration with HighTechXL, Hexagon, and Ultimaker, chooses a limited number of companies to participate in the unique ten-week acceleration program meant to help launch new businesses or help existing ones evolve further. DSM offers funding or partnerships to some startups who complete the acceleration program, with applications accepted through August 8. Only ten companies will be chosen to attend, either at HighTechXL’s campus in Eindhoven or Boston, MA.

While many industrial companies are just beginning to embrace the benefits of 3D printing, a rare few others have been in on the secret for decades—and DSM is one of those pioneers, at the forefront of AM processes for over 25 years with their Somos® products. With an eye to the future and the realization of how important new startups are to the ‘digital ecosystem,’ DSM is helping to mold the continued expansion of 3D printing in the next decades.

The DSM team lists their reasons for creating the program:

Recognition of the power of 3D printing
World-class materials expertise
Global reach
Expansive industry network
Financial resources

DSM has already invested in over 50 companies spanning Europe, the US, and Israel since 2001. This is their ninth challenge for startups, and all part of their mission to build sustainability throughout the world.

Hugo da Silva

“Digitalization will transform the world of manufacturing. By building an ecosystem of partners, we can work together to create tools that support 3D printing design and production, helping our affiliates and customers create innovative new products in a more sustainable way. The I AM Tomorrow Challenge is a step toward a brighter future,” said Hugo da Silva, VP Additive Manufacturing DSM.

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division is also working toward an end-to-end digital solution for AM processes, and they will be connecting with both DSM and partners in assessing and companies participating in the acceleration program that might be able to participate in development.

Royal DSM continues to be a force in 3D printing, from collaborations with companies like Briggs Automotive Company to partnerships with FormFutura and development of materials for new 3D printing systems. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

[Source / Images: DSM press release]

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ORNL and UMaine Initiative Receives Funding to Create New Bio-Based 3D Printing Materials

UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center students and staff lift a boat roof from a mold 3D printed with a new biomaterial, nanocellulose-reinforced PLA, developed at the University of Maine. L-R: Michael Hunter, Camerin Seigars, Zane Dustin, Alex Cole, Scott Tomlinson, Richard Fredericks, and Habib Dagher. [Image: UMaine]

The researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee have spent a lot of time working with unique 3D printing materials, such as polyester, lignin, and nanocellulose, which is a bio-derived nanomaterial. Now, a new research collaboration between ORNL and the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center aims to increase efforts to use wood products as 3D printing materials. Together, the team will work with the forest products industry to create new bio-based 3D printing materials that can be used to make products like building components, boats and boat hull molds, wind blades, and shelters.

The large-scale initiative was announced this week in Washington, DC. Leaders from the university and ORNL, as well as the DoE‘s assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy Daniel Simmons, the founding executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center Habib Dagher, and US Sens. Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander, and Angus King were all on hand for the announcement, which also stated that UMaine and ORNL had received $20 million in federal funding for the program from the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.

[Image: UMaine]

“While Oak Ridge is a global leader in additive manufacturing, the University of Maine is an expert in bio-based composites. By working together, they will strengthen environmentally responsible advanced manufacturing in America as well as helping the forest industry in the state of Maine,” Senator Collins said.

Sens. Collins and King requested federal help to save the declining forest products industry in Maine back in 2016, after several paper mills in the state closed their doors. This led to the founding of the Economic Development Assessment Team (EDAT) to work across agencies in order to come up with economic development strategies for the rural communities in Maine that were suffering from the mill closures. This team resulted in the ongoing partnership between UMaine and ORNL.

“Using Maine forest products for 3D printing is a great way to create new jobs in Maine and a good reminder that national laboratories are our secret weapons in helping the United States stay competitive in the rapidly changing world economy. The partnership between the University of Maine and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a model for how science and technology can help Americans prosper in the new economy,” said Senator Alexander.

A 3D printed representation of the state of Maine presented by Habib Dagher, executive director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. The material was a wood-based product developed at UMaine. [Image: Contributed by the office of Sen. Susan Collins]

This October, ORNL’s BAAM 3D printer will be installed at UMaine, which is actually considered a world leader in cellulose nano fiber (CNF) technology. UMaine students can also visit ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF), while staff from the laboratory can in turn learn about cellulose fiber and composites at UMaine’s composites center.

One of the printer’s first tasks will be to fabricate a boat mold out of a wood-based plastic, though the team hopes to apply the technology to many large-scale manufacturing applications.

Habib Dagher, Executive Director of the Advanced Structures & Composites Center holds up 3D printed representations of Maine and Tennessee signifying new manufacturing programs between UMaine and ORNL that will use wood-based products in 3D printing. Sen. Angus King, I- Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, watch Dagher’s presentation after announcing $20 million in federal funding for the collaboration. [Image: Contributed by the office of Sen. Susan Collins]

Dagher explained, “The material is nanocellulose, basically a tree ground up to its nano structure. These materials have properties similar to metals. We are taking those and putting them in bioplastics so we can make very strong plastics that we can make almost anything with.”

The team will then add the nanocellulose to PLA.

“The University of Maine is doing cutting-edge research related to bio-feedstocks and the application of advanced manufacturing in regional industries,” said Thomas Zacharia, the director of ORNL. “We are thrilled at this opportunity to expand our research base while providing UMaine with access to the leading national capabilities we have developed at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.”

The overall goal for the initiative is to find new uses for wood-based products in an effort to reinvigorate Maine’s forest products industry, while also helping to make regional manufacturing stronger by connecting university–industry clusters with the MDF. The federal funding will be divided equally between both facilities.

“We will integrate 20 years of research in bio-based composites at UMaine and 3D printing at ORNL. It is an opportunity engine for our students, faculty, staff and manufacturing industry who will work side by side with researchers at our nation’s foremost research laboratory. Together, we will break down wood to its nanocellulose structure, combine it with bioplastics, and print with it at hundreds of pounds an hour,” said Dagher. “The research we will be conducting with ORNL will spur next-generation manufacturing technologies using recyclable, bio-based, cost-effective materials that will bolster our region’s economy.”

Scientists from UMaine and ORNL will be conducting research in multiple areas, such as multiscale modeling, CNF production, drying, functionalization, and compounding with thermoplastics, and sustainability life-cycle analysis.

CNF could actually rival the properties of steel, and by successfully adding it into plastics, the researchers could create a renewable feedstock for strong, recyclable, bio-derived material systems that might even be 3D printed at deposition rates of hundreds of pounds an hour. Additionally, using a material that’s 50% wood could help open new markets for the forest products industry.

UMaine will get world’s largest 3D printer and use wood-based plastic to make boat molds

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3D Printing News Briefs: March 1, 2019

On this first day in March, we’re sharing business and dental news with you. Markforged is helping businesses speed up and facilitate their 3D printing adoption with its new Additive Manufacturing University, and 3DEO is more than doubling its production capacity this quarter. Lumi Industries has entered into a distribution agreement with Harzlabs for 3D printing dental resins, and Renishaw is leveraging Polygonica for its dental applications.

Markforged Announces Additive Manufacturing University

Boston 3D printer company Markforged announced a new program this week that’s meant to help large manufacturing businesses facilitate and accelerate their 3D printing adoption. Its Additive Manufacturing University was built to help companies learn some of the skills they’ll need to design for additive manufacturing, manage the 3D printing process, find new applications for the technology, and successfully build businesses cases for replacing the lengthy, expensive manufacturing processes traditionally used with 3D printing. There are three main ways for companies to take advantage of the Markforged Additive Manufacturing University: onsite at Markforged for single or multi-day workshops; certification and training delivered at a customer’s own facility; and the free, on-demand Markforged Learning Library.

“Markforged Additive Manufacturing University is really about inspiring industry-wide innovation. Once we’ve helped engineers, designers, and the manufacturing industry build a strong foundation of additive manufacturing skills, the potential is nearly limitless,” said Andrew de Geofroy, the Markforged Vice President of Application Engineering.

3DEO Continues Its Growth in 2019

Metal 3D printing company 3DEO, Inc., based in Los Angeles and founded in 2016, grew a lot last year, having used its patented Intelligent Layering Technology to 3D print and ship over 30,000 paid parts to customers in multiple industries in 2018. It appears that this growth isn’t slowing down either, as the company is more than doubling its production capacity this quarter to meet customer demand with its proprietary metal 3D printers. It’s only the first day of March, and 3DEO has already locked down two more customer production orders that are scheduled for delivery this year, one for 24,000 pieces and another for 28,000.

“By all measures, 3DEO is rapidly expanding to fill a large void in the market of small complex metal parts. Customers are validating our technology across a variety of industries and we are either in production or quickly moving to production with many clients,” said Matt Petros, CEO and Co-Founder of 3DEO. “Additive manufacturing is finally competing directly with traditional manufacturing, enabling significant volumes to shift over to AM. It is a very exciting time for 3DEO, metal additive manufacturing and our customers.”

Lumi Industries and Harzlabs Announces Dental Distribution Agreement

Russian startup HARZLabs, which manufactures resins, recently had a successful European launch at formnext 2018. The company keeps environmental protection in work spaces and the healthcare of operators at the forefront by using high quality raw materials that they say give their 3D printing resins a low rate of toxicity, with hardly any odor. This means they claim that they can be used safely in naturally ventilated laboratories, without requiring a dedicated evacuation system.

Now, Italian DLP 3D printing company Lumi Industries has entered into a distribution agreement with HARZLabs for its professional dental resins, and will be distributing the materials at a competitive price through its online store in 1 or ½ kilo leak-proof sealed bottles. The line of 3D printing dental resins is currently under certification, and includes Dental Cast, heat resistant Dental Yellow Clear, transparent and low-viscosity Dental Clear, and Dental Sand A1-A2, which is perfect for highly detailed prints.

Renishaw Leveraging Polygonica for Dental 3D Printing

3D printing company Renishaw manufactures advanced 3D printers and software, but it also produces crowns and bridges through its dental services business. Renishaw leverages mesh processing software Polygonica to enable more reliable automation for this particular application, which used to be completed with lost wax casting and CNC milling processes. David Turner, Renishaw’s Software Development Manager, explained that the company runs into mesh integrity issues with small holes and gaps, non-manifold bodies, floating shells and voids, and incorrectly oriented triangles.

“The amount of mesh detail is really key to us because we’ve got tens of thousands of parts coming in monthly. That takes up a lot of server space plus the amount of bandwidth it takes to shift these parts around our manufacturing system is huge. Also, the amount of time to process those parts and create laser paths that we can actually then build the parts with goes up massively,” Turner said.

“Polygonica helps us reduce the amount of data in the mesh whilst guaranteeing not to lose important detail.”

Turner also said that Renishaw uses Polygonica to help with other mesh modeling needs, such as product identification and tracking, creating nesting algorithms, hub placement, and creating abutments. Renishaw also used Polygonica to develop its ADEPT craniomaxillofacial design tool for 3D printing, which you can learn more about in the following video:

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WASP Launching Long-Term ‘3D Printing for Sustainable Living’ Construction Project

In September, WASP, or the World’s Advanced Saving Project, debuted its new Crane construction 3D printer, in Italy. It’s actually a modular 3D printing system, or “infinity 3D printer,” with different configurations to choose from, and was presented to the public in Massa Lombarda, where the 3D printed village of Shamballa is being constructed.

In October, a two-day program was held, starting with a conference titled “A call to save the world,” surrounding the introduction of WASP’s Crane 3D printer and its innovative 3D printed Gaia Module. The livable, tiny 3D printed house is the first structure that the WASP Crane 3D printed, and was made out of actual raw earth, with straw and rice husks added to the interior for insulation.

“Everyone in the world will have a fine, healthy, sustainable, self-sufficient and ecological home for birthright,” WASP wrote in a press release. “The earth is our witness, took form in Gaia.”

Now that the 3D printed architectural Gaia model is complete, WASP is beginning a brand new technological phase “in view of Expo 2020,” and kicking things off in 2019 with a long-term program called “3D Printing for Sustainable Living.”

GAIA represents an important case study for understanding just what’s possible when using 3D printing in the construction industry. The 3D printed earth module is an important part of WASP’s new program, which focuses on developing construction process using digital fabrication and 3D printing in an effort to move towards an all-new concept of building houses.

“As already announced in the conference “A Call to save the World”, WASP runs for a collaboration with partners belonging to every sector, from architectural design to the university research, from humanitarian associations to national ministries, able to fully share the project,” the company wrote. “It proposes a strategic program of constructive activities, expressly designed for on-site 3D printing and developed through the use of local raw materials.”

The program centers around an advanced, eco-sustainable model of construction, especially due to the lower cost and higher interior comfort the walls in the Gaia model provide with their combination of raw earth and natural waste as construction materials.

Some of the partners expected to work with WASP on its new project include a few universities, humanitarian associations, banking institutions and foundations, both public and private authorities, and several ministries, including Education, Health, Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, Infrastructure and Transport, Labor and Social Policies, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Food and Forestry Agricultural Policies and Tourism, and Economic Development.

The project is based on six main macro-areas, starting with the promotion of human and material resources from the territory. This area features the capitalization of human knowledge, the use of renewable energy sources and materials found on site, the democratization of technology for the purposes of production, and using local manpower, rather than people with advanced training.

The second project area is sustainable construction processes with low environmental impact, including such items as lowering construction costs, CO2 emissions, the use of concrete, and transport operations, as well as using natural waste and better planning out the construction life cycle. Recycled materials, like natural waste from the agricultural chain and rubble, make up the third area, while the fourth is centered around the digitalization of the construction site through features such as digital data acquisition through 3D scanning, site monitoring, using on-site measuring to lower the amount of mistakes, and constantly defining the correct spatial coordinates.

Multi-purposes construction is the fifth project macro-area, which includes coordinating the use of multiple methods of digital fabrication like CNC technology, embedding supply facilities during initial construction rather than after, adding natural ventilation and thermal insulation right onto the walls, and using controlled material deposition to achieve high performance construction. Digital design is the final project area, and will focus on features including integrated design with BIM software, sharing digital contents available on the Internet, using a material optimization algorithm for construction, and making construction projects fully digital.

With this new project, WASP hopes to become a leader in the housing market, due also to its network of collaborators that will help to foster and share the project. The company knows that are some real opportunities in the future for green building, and also plans to develop a new eco-district in order to implement its “3D Printing for Sustainable Living” project goals and set up new constructive strategies that can be replicated in multiple environments.

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[Images provided by WASP]